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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27133832">Observations in Jahannam</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/arrowsshootyouforwards/pseuds/arrowsshootyouforwards'>arrowsshootyouforwards</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Teacher AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:36:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,178</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27133832</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/arrowsshootyouforwards/pseuds/arrowsshootyouforwards</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>As Joe is trapped in the middle of the worst teaching observation of his life, he realises that all of the fault lies with Booker, his roommate who has been stoking the rumours that he and Joe were in a relationship, when actually Joe is with Nicky, another teacher at the school. But what the kids don't know, turns out could actually hurt his career.</p><p>He hovered near the door to Booker’s classroom, trying to hear or see what could have caused the reaction in his students that morning. Then, when Booker raised his hand to wipe something from his board Joe saw it. A diamond engagement ring sitting on Booker’s finger.<br/>The word Bastard came to mind in several languages but weary of his surroundings, no sound left Joe’s lips. His brain short-circuited as Booker met his eye and winked, making him almost drop his water bottle as the students’ heads whipped around to see Joe stood there in shock. The secrecy now made sense.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>186</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Observations in Jahannam</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Huge thank you to @arabic-langblr on Tumblr for checking my Arabic translations for this story :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jahannam. That’s where Joe was right now. The equivalent to the Christian concept of Hell he’d learned about through his youth was the perfect metaphor for where he was right now. He wasn’t sure what exactly in his life he had done to be there, but recent events and accusations probably were a contributing factor. Fortunately, unlike the Christian concept of Hell, Jahannam, like his current position in the middle of a nightmare lesson observation, was as some scholars believed and debated, temporary.</p><p>Joe wasn’t sure exactly what had gone wrong with this class. They were in their fourth year of compulsory secondary education, a year away from their official exams and Joe thought he had a good rapport with them. It seemed he was wrong. Either that or he had slipped into an alternate universe where he was a terrible teacher and all of his classes hated him.</p><p>Joe was slowly reaching his limits. The class had taken longer than usual to settle and while he’d been giving the instructions there had been more disruption than he had ever faced from this class. This had been one of his favourite classes to teach. He’d taught them since they were first years and they knew where they could push, and he’d allow some give. But this was just ridiculous. To top off the disruption, some of his students were shooting him glares whenever he dared to address them, ignoring him or being downright rude in response. He took a minute to remind them of his expectations, reminding them of the behaviour system, giving some warnings out.</p><p>In the corner, the inspector who was observing his lesson did not look impressed with what was happening in the classroom. He was writing notes on his forms, likely giving Joe a failing grade for his observation. Andy, the Head was not gonna be pleased. Since she had taken over the Headship years ago the school had done nothing but improve its reputation and she strived to keep that going. Joe had been hired the year she took over and had always done well in his classes and observations. He had been a risky new hire, right out of his University days, but it had paid off for them.</p><p>Until now, it seemed.</p><p>Joe had a theory he knew what this was about, but he hoped he was wrong, hoped his students thought better of him than that. It seemed they didn’t, which meant only one thing.</p><p>This was Booker’s fault.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Joe and Booker were roommates. They hadn’t seen much of a choice in the area where they were both teachers, rent prices were outrageous and the only sensible thing to do was to house share. Joe taught Art and Booker Computers and lower year French. He had developed a program completely on the computers to teach French, so he didn’t actually have much teaching to do and he loved coding. He and Booker had gotten on very well since they had moved in together and hung out a lot outside of work. They shared common interests and they shared a car because there was only enough space on their street outside their home for one car.</p><p>Due to being seen arriving and leaving in one car and because of their behaviour and their relaxed attitude towards physical contact, many students had assumed they were together in some way or another.</p><p>This wasn’t the case. Joe was in a relationship with another teacher at the school, but it wasn’t Booker. It was one of the teachers in the History department who had been hired almost three years before. Joe and Nicky had been drawn to each other since they had met, sharing shy smiles across meetings and always seeming to be signed up for the same volunteer commitments [again, Booker’s doing]. Nicky had been at the school for half a year when Joe got up the courage to ask him out and they spent an afternoon at an art museum. They hadn’t looked back. In fact, the only reason they weren’t living together was that when Nicky’s lease had been up, they hadn’t been together that long and didn’t want to screw up their friendship or relationship by moving too quickly.</p><p>Something sweet about Nicky was that he didn’t feel threatened by Joe’s close friendship with Booker; an issue Joe had had in the past with a previous partner. Nicky and Booker weren’t close, but they got on well enough when they were in close quarters. Neither were a friend they would make on their own and were content to be mutually friends through Joe.</p><p>Joe and Nicky, or various reasons, had agreed that they would only disclose their relationship to a select group of people. For a short while, this excluded their families. Nicky had been raised in a traditional Roman Catholic family in Italy where he was raised. While his family had never given him any sign they were homophobic or wouldn’t accept him, he was wary after hearing his parents discussing a body that had been found in an alley near a gay bar in the city, where the man in question had frequented. Nicky didn’t think he would be disowned or punished by his family, but the people around them, the people they went to church with every Sunday… He worried what they would think of his family. How they would treat them, even in his absence.</p><p>Joe was the oldest of four children and the only son in his family. He hadn’t told his family, not for the exact same reasons, but similar. Joe, as the only son had heard many stories growing up about how he was going to carry on the family name, it was his responsibility, his duty. Like Nicky, his family had never been outright homophobic, at least not in front of him, but he worried what the community would think. His family were deeply involved in the Muslim community in Birmingham where his parents had met after emigrating with their families as teenagers themselves. The community were wonderful, but Joe’s brain was full of ‘what if’ scenarios he was afraid of.</p><p>Only one of Joe’s sisters knew they were together from either of their families and that was only because she had decided to drop in to surprise her brother. Joe and Nicky hadn’t been together for more than a couple of months and they were on one of their Saturday afternoon dates to local places of historical interest as Joe found he could listen to Nicky talk about History, or indeed anything he was passionate about for hours and Nicky the same with Joe and Art.</p><p>Misha was the youngest of Joe’s three sisters, with eight and nine years between her and her other sisters. She was 17 and on a trip with her school Sixth Form for the weekend to watch a play at the Globe Theatre. After the play the students were given some free time, some were 18 and the others almost adults so they were set loose on London and told to be ready for the coach the next morning to go home. Misha had plans to meet up with her friends that evening for dinner, but while she was in the city, she wanted to see her brother. She arrived at the small house he shared with Booker who told her Joe was out, but she was welcome to come in and wait for him. Joe’s family had met Booker on numerous occasions since he and Joe had been living together, so she felt comfortable being alone in the house with him. He offered her tea, saying Joe wouldn’t be too long.</p><p>While making tea, Booker sent Joe a message, warning him that Misha was here and that he should probably not bring Nicky. Joe, however, did not get the message and not 10-minutes later, he and Nicky fell through the front door, lips attached and attempting to undress each other. “Yusef?” Misha asked, having gotten up to greet her brother. Joe froze, Nicky scrambled to separate them. The smile that had been heard in Misha’s voice was replaced by a look of confusion and Booker facepalmed behind her. “Who’s this?” She asked, curiously, her eyes darting between the stranger and her brother.</p><p>“I should go,” Nicky mumbled, pulling his jacket back around his shoulders.</p><p>“Wait,” Joe reached out to him, taking his hand and squeezing it, Nicky squeezed back reassuringly. “Misha, this is Nicoló, or Nicky. Nicoló, this is Misha, my youngest sister who didn’t tell me she was visiting today.” Nicky looked torn; he couldn’t gage Misha’s thoughts as he meekly offered her his hand to shake. “Nicky and I are seeing each other,” he added, cringing at his choice of words. Nicky and he hadn’t discussed what exactly their relationship was, so he went with the simplest terms he could think of. Misha shook Nicky’s hand, they greeted each other quietly. “Tea Misha?”</p><p>“Booker was just making it,” she said, she sounded distracted, she was looking at Nicky, studying him.</p><p>“Excellent, I’ll go help, why don’t you two sit and get acquainted, Booker, a word?” Joe pointed at the kitchen, Booker who looked torn between laughing and screaming nodded, shutting the door behind them. Booker continued making the tea, Joe pinched the bridge of his nose, dragged his fingers through his hair and cursed in several languages under his breath. He was fluent in three languages but knew how to curse and say basic phrases in a few more. As a language teacher Booker had convinced him knowing how to curse in a different language was quite useful. Taking out his phone he fiddled with it, setting it on the counter before picking it back up again. “You could’ve warned me Misha was here.”</p><p>“I sent you a message when she arrived about 10-minutes ago,” Booker told him. Joe opened the door and peeked through a miniscule gap. Nicky and his sister were talking uneasily. He watched his sister suddenly look very interested and wondered what Nicky was saying to her.</p><p>Turning back to Booker he held up his phone, “well I don’t have a message,” he told him. No sooner did he finish his sentence, his phone lit up and a loud <em>ping</em> echoed around the kitchen as his phone connected to the WiFi and the message came through on his phone. Joe re-cursed.</p><p>“I’ve told you to keep your phone data on or WhatsApp won’t work,” Booker told him, “help me with this,” he gestured to the cups of tea in front of him. “What’re you guys talking about?” Booker asked, holding a tea out to Misha as she and Nicky were discussing something intensely.</p><p>“Nicky was telling me about where he went to University, it’s where I interviewed last week,” she said. “He was telling me about the professors and modules he studied.”</p><p>“Oh that’s great, she’s had her heart on that place for years,” Joe agreed, glad the awkwardness seemed to have gone, or at least lessened.</p><p>Nicky excused himself later on, he had a presentation to make on the first Crusades and wanted to get a start on it that evening. After Nicky had gone, Joe had explained to his sister that their relationship was still new and they were working it out, which was one of the reasons the family hadn’t been told yet. She understood and agreed to not tell their family, it was Joe’s secret to tell them and he would, when he was ready.</p><p> </p><p>That had been in January in Nicky’s first year of teaching at the school. Now, in Nicky’s 3<sup>rd</sup> year at the school, they were getting more serious and thinking of finding somewhere to move into, but not wanting to leave Booker high and dry without rent. Which meant it was a tricky task. They settled on looking for a place for the three of them, something bigger where they could each have their own space, but still afford. Their friends on the staff all knew they were together, and close friends out of work, but from their families, only Misha knew.</p><p>She was also the only member of Joe’s family to have his non-teacher Facebook account. The one where he could be himself, the one where he could post pictures of him and Nicky at Pride events or on holiday together. Like his profile picture, which was from their trip to Malta at the end of the last Summer holiday.</p><p>Thanks to the chatter of the staff room, Booker, Joe and Nicky were all aware of the kids thinking Joe and Booker were a couple and nobody really rushed to correct them, it was a rumour and none of their business. What didn’t help, was Booker playing to those rumours. It started small at first. Sometimes he would sling an arm over Joe’s shoulder or around his waist as they walked. Other times he’d bring him coffee if he was running detentions in his classroom. One time, when he was feeling particularly mischievous, he kissed his cheek before darting into his classroom, leaving Joe feeling slightly shellshocked in a crowded corridor.</p><p>Then, towards the end of Nicky’s first year, the notes began. Some of Joe’s art students had French with Booker before their lesson and Booker would sometimes give the kids, he’d heard talking about them, notes to give to Joe. The notes themselves were actually quite mundane. Things that really, could have or should have been sent in an email.</p><p>
  <em>‘I’m running detention tonight – B’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Game club is on, don’t wait to drive me – B’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘I have a meeting with a parent tonight, kill me – B’ </em>
</p><p>And other generic boring notes asking what was for dinner.</p><p>After the Summer, during Nicky’s second year, things took a bit of a turn. Nicky renewed his lease with his current landlord because he and Joe didn’t want to rush moving in together. So Joe and Booker continued to live together, drive together and send and receive notes. After Christmas, when Joe and Nicky were getting more serious and it seemed brave in the common areas of Joe’s place, Booker started sending emails. Joe wasn’t sure how he’d done it, because he never left his laptop where Booker could get to it, but the other man had made it so that his emails came through as notifications with the <em>From</em>: and <em>Subject</em>: lines visible.</p><p>First, the were innocent enough, things that realistically could’ve waited until they saw each other in the staff room.</p><p>
  <em>From: Booker<br/>
Subject: Tonight’s Dinner</em>
</p><p>
  <em>From: Booker<br/>
Subject: Half-term plans</em>
</p><p>And so on.</p><p>Over the months the subject lines became more about goading the rumours they were seeing each other. Putting heart emojis or ‘date night plans’ when the email was about nothing to do with that at all. Sometimes, Joe could feel his face heating up as Booker reminded him of their deal of no misbehaving in communal spaces and telling him he and Nicky would have the place to themselves as Booker was away for the weekend, visiting an old friend, Lykon, from his University days.</p><p>Late September in Nicky’s third year at the school, Joe got called into the Head’s office. Andy was a formidable woman and she ran the school with a firm but fair hand. He wondered if he was about to get reprimanded for the emails he’d sent back to Booker in retaliation for dissolving his class into fits of giggles and whispers as his face heated from the emails he’d received.</p><p>“Have a seat Joe,” she told him, tapping frustratedly at the keyboard. Andy hated computers, she hated that they were always changing how the same action was performed.</p><p>“Am I in trouble boss? If it’s the emails, I’d just like it on record that Booker started it,” he said, holding his hands up in surrender.</p><p>“I’ve not called you here to talk about that, unless you wanna file a complaint against him then I’ll follow up on it,” she offered.</p><p>“Nah, it’s all good fun, for now,” he admitted, “so what’s up?”</p><p>“Local university called me, they have a student teacher on the Art course, looking for a training placement for her. Wondered if you’d take her on?” Andy asked.</p><p>In Joe’s 10 years of teaching, he’d never had a student teacher, and he remembered his own mentor telling him how rarely she’d had a student teacher herself. “Sure, I can take her on,” he nodded, “when does she start?”</p><p>“A couple of weeks’ time, she’ll maybe come in to meet you and get a look at the school ahead of time, I’ll let you know if I hear she’s coming up. Any more questions?”</p><p>“No, I’m good thanks Boss.”</p><p>Joe told Nicky and Booker that night over dinner about taking on a student, Booker praised him for getting a break from teaching and Nicky scowled at him across the table. “It’s not a break Book,” Joe said before Nicky could say what he was thinking. “I’m teaching her and until she takes over, I’m still planning and teaching my classes,” he said firmly.</p><p> </p><p>Joe met Nile Freeman, his student a week later on a Thursday afternoon, right when he had his favourite class. They were on task, making their models from the designs they been working on since the start of term. Andy brought her to the class and Joe greeted her warmly, offering her a hand, barely remembering to wipe to clean them on a rag before shaking. “Come on in, so these are the fourth years, we’ve been designing characters for an art exhibit based on a poem for the local primary school, feel free to look around I’m sure they’ll be able to tell you excitedly about their character design. I have a free period next so we can talk about when you join us then.”</p><p>“Thank you, these designs look incredible.” Joe left her to explore, going back to helping the student he had been with, he’d been helping them with some finer details as their arm was in a cast and they couldn’t grip the tool properly.</p><p>After the class Joe took Nile to the staffroom for coffee and then back to the office he shared with some other Art and Design teachers. Nile would be with him all year, spending January through to the first part of March in one of their sister schools and then come back late March to the end of the year.</p><p>Nile joined Joe’s class at the start of October, he talked her through the plans for what the classes needed to cover until she left, breaking it down into the weeks she would be taking over from him.</p><p>Late October the school threw a Halloween disco, Nicky couldn’t make it, his sister had had a baby in September, and he had to fly back to Italy to be with his family for the baptism. Joe had dropped him off at the airport the Friday morning at 4am, so he didn’t have to leave his car in the long stay before going back to the house to get Booker and his costume for the dance. Costumes weren’t mandatory, but he’d lost a bet with Booker and Nile had said she would dress up to make him feel less singled out. She was sweet and Joe looked at her like he did his sisters.</p><p>To his surprise, Booker turned up also in costume to the disco, as well as some other teachers. He and Booker were leaning over the railing watching the students dancing in the lower section of the hall where the dancefloor was, talking about their plans for their week off. Joe wanted to get all of his planning done before Nicky came back from Italy, so they could hopefully do something together before the week was over. It helped that Nile was taking over half of his classes after the break, so he didn’t have as much as he normally did, though he did have to read over hers to check they were OK, but from what he had seen so far, she wouldn’t need much correcting.</p><p>Below them, in the pit where the students were all dancing, some of their mutual students were trying to goad Joe and Booker into dancing with them. Booker, often seen as the ‘cool’ teacher, slipped under the railings without a second thought and the students turned their attentions to Joe. Joe didn’t see it, but Booker winked at the group and shot Joe a playful puppy-eyes look, making Joe roll his eyes and slip under the railing with a shrug across the room to Andy who raised her eyebrows at him. Beside her, her wife Quynh, who was the Head of Languages smirked. “Well that’s going to stoke the rumours,” she murmured to Andy.</p><p>“Unless he complains I can’t do anything about it,” Andy reminded her. Quynh was privy to the rumours about Joe and Booker, due to their close friendship and living situation, but she was also close friends with Nicky and Joe and knew about their actual relationship. Whenever she asked Nicky, he just smiled at her and shrugged that it wasn’t any of the student’s business, nor was it hurting anyone. She simply followed that up with a single word.</p><p>
  <em>“Yet.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Over the next couple of days, Joe worked on his lesson plans and read through the ones Nile sent him in the evenings. She was very on the ball with her planning and everything had been approved by mid-morning on Wednesday. Joe sent her a last confirmation email to let her know she was doing fine and he was very happy with her work before falling into the corner of the couch and picking up the spare controller to log in and play against Booker on Fortnite in the next game.</p><p>“Nicky back tomorrow?” Booker asked as he joined him.</p><p>“Yep, his flight gets in early, but he’ll probably want to go straight upstairs to sleep,” Joe told him, smiling. “We’ll probably have a lazy day in before we go out to dinner, then on Friday my parents are visiting, they’re in town to see Hamilton on the West End, I said I’d meet them in the city.” Joe explained.</p><p>“Nicky staying here or heading home?”</p><p>“Actually, we’ve been talking and I’m going to come out to my parents. My mum’s been complaining that I’m never going to give her any grandchildren and I figured I should tell them before they get too suspicious over my lack of girlfriends. Depending on how they react, Nicky is going to meet us. I booked the table for lunch, so I asked for a bigger table.”</p><p>Booker smiled triumphantly as he got the last kill in, he turned to Joe, “that’s great, I’m really happy for you,” he told him sincerely. “And, look, if you want me to stop-”</p><p>“Book, neither me nor Nicky cares what the kids at school think, mess with ‘em all you want,” Joe assured him, signing in with his controller.</p><p>Booker smirked, turning back to the game, “good, ‘cause I’ve got some plans for this year.” Joe laughed, shaking his head, them dancing at the Halloween disco did stoke some of the rumours as he saw plenty of students whispering. He and Booker played through the afternoon and ordered takeout for dinner.</p><p>The next morning, Joe got up early, pulled on some clothes and headed to the airport to pick up Nicky. He stood near the returns door, according to the screen, Nicky’s plane was on time. While he waited, he went through his email, deleting junk and spam until he heard the sound of heavy footfall, heading towards him. Looking up he found Nicky instantly, seeing him near the back of the crowd due to his height. Joe could tell, even from a distance, Nicky was tired and would need more sleep. Anticipating Nicky’s needs, he pulled the hoodie he had worn all week to keep warm over his head and pulled on the spare jacket he’d brought with him as Nicky approached.</p><p>Nicky spotted him and gave him a tired smile. He walked into Joe’s waiting arms, relaxing the instant he felt their bodies meet. “Mi sei mancata,” [I missed you] Nicky murmured against Joe’s neck.</p><p>“Anche tu mi sei mancato,” [I missed you too] Joe responded, letting Nicky hold him for a moment longer before pulling back and holding out the hoodie he had been wearing. Nicky smiled, pulled off his zip up jacket and pulled the hoodie on, kissing Joe to thank him.</p><p>“Sei un angelo,” [You are an angel] Nicky told him as Joe slipped his hand into his to lead him out to the car.</p><p>Back at the house they went straight upstairs and got into bed, Joe big spooning Nicky, holding him securely as he slept.</p><p>After spending the morning in bed, the pair went downstairs for something to eat, only when their stomachs protested any more cuddling. Nicky made tea while Joe made omelettes for the two of them. Booker joined them around an hour later, bringing home some groceries. The rain was pouring outside, slapping loudly against the window over the sink and Booker’s hair was dripping onto his shoulders and the counters. Nicky reached into his bag he had left in the kitchen and tossed a box at Booker who barely caught it. He had remembered a candy he had brought back from his last visit which Booker had become very fond of and had brought him some back.</p><p>Due to the rain, Joe and Nicky didn’t feel like venturing out and so had a Netflix day on the couch watching the Criminal series in all four countries and languages it was available, with subtitles for the languages they weren’t confident in, switching to something more light-hearted upon completion. After a few episodes, Nicky went to get his laptop to finish up his last lesson plans for when Andy and the Department Head came to observe him the week after the holiday. He knew it was simply routine, but this knowledge did nothing to soothe his nerves. His nerves were already on edge at the prospect of meeting Joe’s parents the next day. They texted Joe to let him know they had arrived in the city that evening and he sent them a response which included a reminder of the place to meet him the next morning.</p><p>Closing his laptop, he laid back against Joe, whose fingers were stroking through his hair. “Yusef, you’ll make me sleepy,” he mumbled, trying to refocus on the episode.</p><p>Joe checked the time, raising his eyebrows, “it is getting late, we should go to bed if we want to get up with enough time to get ready.”</p><p>Nicky groaned at the prospect of having to move but in the end did, rather enthusiastically, when Joe began whispering how he would reward him if he moved.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, they were pulled from their sleep by their alarm sounding from Joe’s phone, which was charging across the room. Joe showered while Nicky shaved his holiday scruff, despite Joe commenting how much he liked it. “I can always grow it back,” Nicky assured him, “but I want to make a good impression with your parents. If they’re even willing to meet me.” Nicky added, to himself, but Joe still heard him.</p><p>“They’re going to love you, Habibi,” Joe assured him, “no matter what you look like. But if you want to, I won’t stop you. As long as growing it back is a promise,” he added, hopeful as it really was a good look.</p><p>They drove into the city and Joe parked, Nicky nervously checked his hair in the mirror, stalling getting out. “It will be alright ya amar.”</p><p>“I just don’t want it to go badly and them ask you to choose.” Nicky confided.</p><p>“If they do, they’ll have made that choice for me and you are it,” Joe assured him, leaning across to kiss him deeply. “I should go, I’ll text you where we are.” With a final peck to his lips, Joe and Nicky climbed out and went their separate ways to the park where they were meeting Joe’s parents. Nicky found a bench where he could see Joe in his peripheral as he walked towards an older couple. The man, even from a distance, Nicky could see the resemblance and kind eyes immediately that were Joe, they shone when they saw him approach. Nicky’s stomach felt uneasy as the moment drew closer when he would either meet Joe’s parents, or they would walk away. And there was nothing for him to do, other than sit and wait.</p><p> </p><p>Joe spent the walk to the park giving himself a pep-talk. His phone dinged with a text from Misha wishing him luck and assuring him everything would be alright. He smiled, glad to have her support in this as a kind of outsider. He spotted Nicky already at the park and took a deep breath when he spotted his parents and they spotted him. They were stood drinking tea from a stand in the park when they saw him, their eyes lighting up at the sight of their oldest and only son, which did not help Joe’s own nerves. His mother welcomed him into her arms and held onto him tightly. London and Birmingham were so far away, and it was so rare when they were able to actually see each other. He held her equally as tight, whispering “’amy, min aljayd ruyatuk.” [Mum, it is very good to see you]. He decided to use Arabic to speak with them, hoping to limit how much other customers overheard from their conversation should things go badly. Thankfully his mother followed his lead.</p><p>She returned his greeting, holding his cheeks in her hands, memorising her son’s aging face. He hugged his father and joined them at the table, refusing their offer of a drink. Looking between their faces, his leg started bouncing, showing his anxiety, so he decided to get it over with; ripping off the band aid: “’ami, ‘abi, hunak shay’ ‘urid ‘an ‘ukhbirak bih wamal an tafhamah.” [Mum, dad, there’s something I want to tell you, and hope you understand.]</p><p>His parents shared a confused look, his mother urged him to continue: “Yusef, yumkinuk ‘iikhbaruna bi’ayi shay’, ‘ant taerif hadha.” [Yusef, you can tell us anything, you know this.” She told him smiling, in his head he still feared the worst, even though it made him relax enough to stop his leg from bouncing.</p><p>Steeling his courage, Yusef looked up at them and just said it. “Laqad wajadat shrykana wa’ana ‘ahabuhum.” [I have found a partner and I love them.] Yusef paused before adding: “‘ana ‘uhubih.” [I love him.] Joe stopped talking, wanting to give his words a moment to sink in, but he did not dare look up from his fingers clasped on the table in front of him. If he was a Christian, someone may mistake him for being in prayer.</p><p>Suddenly, two hands came into view, one from each of his parents clasped over his hands and he looked up at them to see smiles. “Ya bunaya, nahn naelim.” [Son, we know.] His mother spoke softly. Joe’s mind started racing, worrying Misha may have accidentally let it slip to them. “Almurahiqun laysuu jaydin fi ‘iikhfa’ al’ashya’ kama yaetaqiduna.” [Teens aren’t as good at hiding things as they think.]</p><p>“You were no exception,” his father said, speaking for the first time since greeting Yusef, putting his mind to rest about his sister being the unwilling culprit. “We noticed you were very fond of Rona’s boyfriend,” he added, and Joe was mortified. When his sister Rona, the oldest of his sisters and two years younger than Joe himself had brought her first boyfriend home to meet the family, he had thought he was being subtle. After all, it wasn’t his fault his little sister was dating his crush. Looking back, he realised his mother was correct, teenagers are not good at hiding things, he knew this enough from work with the rumours of himself and Booker.</p><p>Joe brought their hands to his forehead, before letting go to wipe his eyes. His mother was at his side quickly, changing to English, “Please do not cry Yusef,” she begged.</p><p>“Don’t worry mum, these are happy tears,” he assured her, accepting her tight and reassuring hug. “It feels so good to know that you know,” he told them.</p><p>“We knew you’d tell us when you were ready,” his father told him. “Tell us about this man,” he invited Joe to continue talking.</p><p>Joe smiled, letting go of his mother, “he’s wonderful. He’s a History teacher at the school I work in, we met when he started and we’ve been seeing each other for two and a half years, I think,” Joe told them. “Actually, he’s… I’d like for you to meet him, if you’d want to.” He said.</p><p>“We’d be delighted to,” his mother assured him.</p><p>Joe sent a quick text over to Nicky, “his name is Nicoló, but he goes by Nicky, he’s from Italy and he makes me very happy and I hope that I make him feel the same way. Like I said, I love him.”</p><p> </p><p>Nicky’s phone vibrated in his fingers, a text from Joe told him to come over with a smiling emoji, assuring him that everything was OK.</p><p>
  <em>‘Come join us ya amar, </em>
  <em>😊 apparently they’ve known about me for years and would love to meet you.’</em>
</p><p>Pocketing his phone, Nicky straightened up and headed over to where Joe and his parents were sat talking. When he arrived, Joe stood and kissed his cheek, whispering: “relax, they’ll love you,” in his ear.</p><p>Nicky turned to them, relaxing as they smiled at him, “Sabāḥul-ẖair, yušarrifunī ʾan ʾataqiya bi wālidayi Yūsuf, innahu rajulin rāiʿ.” [Good morning, I am honoured to meet Yusef’s parents. He is a wonderful man.]</p><p>Joe’s father stood, walking around his wife to shake Nicky’s trembling outstretched hand. “It is an honour to meet the man who makes my son happy,” he said, “you did not have to learn a new language to impress us. Making our son happy and treating him right is all we ask.”</p><p>“He didn’t learn it for this father,” Joe chuckled. “Nicky learned Arabic for his PHD a few years ago,” Joe told his family, beaming with pride before filling in: “He studied Arabic poetry through History.”</p><p>Nicky ducked his head, feeling the tips of his ears turn pink as Joe’s mother pulled him into a warm hug. With the hard part over, Nicky felt himself relax as Joe’s parents asked him questions about his life, wanting to know more about this hidden part of their son’s life, which they continued to do over their lunch. Misha text Joe to check in with him part way through their meal and he and Nicky shared how he had met Joe’s sister when they tumbled through the door after one of their early dates, amusing his parents.</p><p>When they had to part ways for his parents to make their show that evening, Joe and Nicky could not have been more pleased with how their day had gone. Joe was confident his parents loved Nicky, they had welcomed him into their lives that day, like a long lost member of the family, insisting he visit with Joe for the New Year celebrations, which after a reassuring nod from Joe, Nicky assured them he would.</p><p>Joe and Nicky spent the weekend recharging from their emotional day, ahead of the return to school.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Christmas and New Year passed in the blink of an eye, with Nile getting top marks on her first teaching placement and going off to her other school. With Christmas out of the way Valentine’s Day was fast approaching. Joe and Nicky were both busy with their exam year classes, helping them to prep for the exams and planned their Valentines activities for the weekend, rather than the actual night, which fell mid-week. Joe did smile however, when he came into his classroom to find a bouquet of roses on his desk, of all the colours of the rainbow. The note attached to the vase read <em>‘per il mio sole’</em> [for my sun] in what looked like Nicky’s handwriting, though he didn’t tell the students when they asked who they were from.</p><p>Joe taught his morning classes with a smile on his face, hugging Nicky from behind as he washed a coffee mug in the staffroom to kiss his cheek, thanking him for the flowers.</p><p>“Flowers? What flowers?” Nicky asked. “We were saving gifts for this weekend,” he added, a little confused. Behind them the door to the staffroom opened as someone left hastily.</p><p>Joe and Nicky’s eyes met, and they both agreed, “Booker sent them,” with a roll of their eyes.</p><p>“I can ask him to stop if it bothers you,” Joe assured Nicky, but Nicky waved him off, it didn’t bother him, at times he found it rather amusing.</p><p>“It doesn’t,” Nicky assured him, pecking his cheek as the bell rang and he returned to his classroom.</p><p> </p><p>The month of March was quiet on the rumour front and Joe was beginning to think Booker was getting bored, little did he know, the Frenchman was planning something big. Through the month, the emails with the subject lines were relatively tame and his behaviour in front of the students was more reserved than it had ever been. Joe knew him well enough to know that he was planning something as time went on, because he was avoiding Joe’s questions about when he went out or what he was doing, or he’d hide his phone from view at times.</p><p>It came to pass on April 1<sup>st</sup>.</p><p>Joe really should’ve seen it coming, if he was honest with himself.</p><p>That morning, as they were getting into the car, Booker had sworn and told him he had forgotten something, but when Joe asked upon his return, he wouldn’t say what it was. The next thing he knew, after break, his class were smiling and giggly and all-round acting weird. After setting them on their task he sent an email to Booker:</p><p>
  <em>‘What the hell is going on?’</em>
</p><p>To which he received no reply. He became really confused when after his lesson, as he saw his students out of the classroom, some of the girls congratulated him, but for what they wouldn’t say. Joe was officially confused. Having a free period, he caught up on marking essays and tried emailing Booker again, receiving no reply.</p><p>His brain was racing, wondering what Booker had done or said to the kids. He needed to find out; sitting at his desk was driving him crazy. Locking his laptop, he left his classroom and went to refill his water bottle, taking the long route via the computing corridor, to see if he could find anything out. He hovered near the door to Booker’s classroom, trying to hear or see what could have caused the reaction in his students that morning. Then, when Booker raised his hand to wipe something from his board Joe saw it. A diamond engagement ring sitting on Booker’s finger.</p><p>The word <em>Bastard</em> came to mind in several languages but weary of his surroundings, no sound left Joe’s lips. His brain short-circuited as Booker met his eye and winked, making him almost drop his water bottle as the students’ heads whipped around to see Joe stood there in shock. The secrecy now made sense.</p><p>Joe’s fight or flight instincts kicked in and he walked down the corridor towards Nicky’s classroom, thankfully also free of a lesson. Hearing his door open and close quickly, Nicky left the office between his and the next classroom to investigate, stopping dead in his tracks when he found Joe leaning against his classroom door with a look Nicky couldn’t quite discern.</p><p>“Joe, is everything alright?” He asked, but gained no response so he tried in a different language, “Yusef, ‘ant bikhayr?” [Yusef, are you okay?] Nicky asked, approaching him, taking his hand and leading him to sit in the office, closing the door behind them.</p><p>Joe snapped out of whatever trance had him and he looked at Nicky. “I know what his plan for today was,” Joe groaned. Nicky knew Booker had been planning something, and he knew not knowing had been freaking Joe out for the last two weeks. “He’s wearing an engagement ring.” Joe told him and Nicky burst into laughter beside him. “Nicoló, you wound me,” Joe said, dragging his fingers through his hair.</p><p>“It is a bit funny,” Nicky chuckled, “what’s the matter? Afraid to commit to Booker like that?” Nicky teased while pulling him close.</p><p>“Warning would have been nice,” Joe mumbled against Nicky’s shirt, earning him another chuckle.</p><p>Once word reached the teachers – and Booker and Nicky ensured it did – Joe was congratulated in the staff meeting that evening and gently ribbed by his colleagues, who raised their coffee mugs in a toast while Nicky feigned looking heartbroken.</p><p>Booker wore the ring all of the next day as he didn’t have the class he shared with Joe again until Monday, when he promised to clear it up with them. Joe accepted this plan and went on his weekend date with Nicky to a museum with a borrowed exhibit from the Louvre while Booker took a trip to see some of his friends from University in another city for his friend Lykon’s birthday. He returned Sunday evening looking quite rough and frankly lucky to be alive.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile in the world of Facebook Messenger and texting, a photo was being passed around the students as angry teenagers argued over what they thought they were seeing…</p><p> </p><p>Monday morning, Joe drove himself, Nicky and a very hungover Booker to work. They helped him to the staffroom and got him some very strong coffee to try help him perk up. He wasn’t wearing the ring, having removed it Friday night so he didn’t forget. When the bell rang, he dragged his feet to his classroom, hoping he could stomach his coffee, where he was bombarded with questions from concerned students asking if he was alright and why he wasn’t wearing his ring. Too hungover to deal with them he told them as firmly as he could – without vomiting into his classroom bin – that he wasn’t feeling well and he took it off, leaving no room to argue or ask follow-up questions. His class were kind to him, though they were whispering more than they usually did as they worked, though that he could deal with.</p><p>Joe also noted the class behaving oddly when they came to him after morning break, but there was nothing too concerning, just extra chatter or whispering as they worked. He brushed any concerns aside and proceeded with his lesson.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately for Joe, things were far from over.</p><p>The photo, circulating the students’ Messenger and texts was a set of pictures taken at the museum on Saturday and not pictures taken by himself or Nicky. In fact, they were of himself and Nicky. Several pictures of the two of them holding hands and one where Joe kissed Nicky’s cheek as he excused himself to take a call from his sister. The photos were wildly debated through the students, some calling them fake and others furious at this betrayal.</p><p>A reasonable section of students put forward that there were facts still unknown to them and they should wait until school on Monday to find out more. What they saw on Monday however, they perceived as one heartbroken man and one cruel man.</p><p>Taking Booker’s hangover as heartbreak, the students concluded that Mr Al-Kaysani had been cheating on Mr Livre with Mr Genova and it had all come out right after they had gotten engaged. Some speculated that Booker had walked in on them in the act, others thought he had perhaps seen their photos circulating the internet. What they all agreed on, was that they now all hated Al-Kaysani and Genova and something had to be done.</p><p>After all, they had all been taught… Actions have consequences.</p><p> </p><p>Quynh met inspector James Colpey at the visitors’ reception and got him signed in. Normally Andy would have done this herself, but she was needed in a meeting with the other Heads in the Academy Trust her school was apart of, so in her absence, she trusted this duty to her wife and Head of Languages. She showed him to the Art corridor and to Joe’s classroom where he and Nile were setting up for the day.</p><p>“Joe, sorry to spring this on you, but we got hit with a surprise inspection and they wanted to see Art, would you mind taking the lesson over Nile this morning?” She asked, shooting an apologetic look to the student. That morning was meant to be her first lesson taking the class 80% of the time for her last teaching placement during her training.</p><p>“Um, sure, I don’t mind,” Joe shrugged, only slightly concerned by the lack of notice.</p><p>“Great, I’ll leave you then, if that’s alright?”</p><p>“Yeah, no problem, Nile can you finish setting these up while I take the inspector through the formal stuff?”</p><p>“Sure,” Nile shrugged, continuing with the task, portioning clay for the first years in the second lesson.</p><p>Joe took Copley into the office and gave him the rundown of the class, where they were at and the relevant context he needed to know for his paperwork.</p><p> </p><p>Which is how Joe reached Jahannam.</p><p>He had anticipated some disappointment from the students, they loved Nile after all and had been looking forward to being taught by her. But what he hadn’t expected was for them to be rude and ignore his instructions. Joe had always been firm with his classroom management when it had been called for, which it never had with this particular class.</p><p>It really came to a head when one of his students blew up at him with some wild accusation of breaking Mr Livre’s heart by cheating on him with Mr Genova, while thrusting a phone in his face, showing the pictures another student had taken of them at the museum. Joe froze, his mind was racing. Did his students really think so little of him? Booker had sworn he had cleared up the rumours after April Fools’ Day! Joe almost broke when he saw the inspector stand and leave his classroom, looking disappointed.</p><p>Something in Joe snapped, his eyes hardened, and his voice was firm as he took the phone from the student’s hand, confiscating it. “I’m going to clear this up, once and for all,” he said, “now sit down.” His voice held steady and the student did, not daring to demand his phone back. “Not that it is any of your business, but myself and Mr Livre have never been an item, we live together but we are not and never have dated. Myself and Mr Genova have been dating, seriously, for two years now, Mr Livre knows this and likes to joke around. Something he was supposed to clear up after April 1<sup>st</sup>, but clearly that did not happen. You are all going to get on with your projects in silence, with Miss Freeman and I am going to try and save my job.” Joe moved towards the door, paused and turned, “And if a single person speaks Miss Freeman, write down their names for an after-school detention.” Nobody dared to speak, not even when the classroom door slowly swung closed and clicked shut. Nile told them to get on, reminding them of the threat of looming detention.</p><p> </p><p>Outside of his classroom, Joe made sure he was out of sight and rested his forehead against the cold painted brick. What had he done to make his class think so little of him? Hearing heels approaching fast he turned to come face to face with Quynh, sinking into her open arms, allowing her to rub his back comfortingly. “Don’t worry,” she murmured. “Your job isn’t at risk, James is a friend of mine and Andy’s,” Joe pulled back to look at her apologetic face, “I overheard some of your students talking about wanting to get you fired and I figured this way, it would look real enough. I’m so sorry we could not warn you.”</p><p>At the end of the corridor, Joe heard Andy turn, giving instructions to her assistant to tell the Heads Meeting she was too busy running her school to sit through another BS meeting about how exercise books should be organised into a colour per subject, only to tell them in nicer words. Andy put a hand on Joe’s shoulder, “head up to the staff room to calm down. If you’ll excuse me, I have a class which needs tearing a new one,” stepping up to the door, Andy cracked her neck and fingers before schooling her face with a look of absolute fury and entering the classroom. Joe almost wished he could watch, but he was sure Nile would fill him in as Quynh led him away.</p><p> </p><p>Nicky was in the staffroom, talking to James, the fake inspector. James stood and approached him, “apologies Joe.”</p><p>“It’s fine,” Joe said, but his voice was distant as Quynh sat him in one of the armchairs.</p><p>“Joe? ‘ant bikhayr?” [Joe, are you OK?] Nicky asked, kneeling before him, taking his face in his hands. Joe leaned forward to rest their foreheads together. “Yusef?” He whispered. He turned to Quynh to ask her what had happened.</p><p>“His class tried to get him fired by acting up during an observation they didn’t know was fake.”</p><p>“What? Why would they do that?” Nicky asked, shocked and angry.</p><p>“They thought we were having an affair.” Joe told him weakly.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Someone saw us at the museum last weekend, they assumed I was cheating on Booker with you, they took pictures. His hangover probably didn’t help him convince them it was all a joke for April Fool’s Day, that stupid engagement ring. They thought I broke his heart,” Joe mumbled as Nicky drew him into a comforting hug, like Quynh had done.</p><p>Andy entered the staffroom, looking very proud of herself. “Only three criers. I’m losing my touch,” she said, earning a chuckle from her wife and James, the three of them had all taught at a school together before moving onto their current jobs and Andy had had quite the reputation. “How’re you holding up Joe?”</p><p>“Not too bad boss,” he said, but she could tell he was lying.</p><p>“Believe me when I say Booker is about to get what’s coming to him. Starting in about 10 minutes.” She said, looking at her watch. Joe and Nicky looked at her questioningly. She smirked, “you didn’t think I’d bring James out and only have him “<em>observe</em>” you, did you?” Andy put air quotes around ‘<em>observe’</em> and it clicked in their brains what she meant. “I made a deal with your class, they’re still in a lot of trouble, but if they spend this lesson planning hell for Booker, they only get four days of detention, not five.” Joe couldn’t hide his smile, he wished he could be there to see it, but he knew that would give the game away. “And Quynh has personally arranged something he’ll hate for the May mid-term break.” Joe looked up at Quynh who nodded, an evil smile ghosting her lips. “Nile’s due to teach the rest of the day, so take it easy alright? Go home if you need to,” Andy told him, “just come back tomorrow ready to get back at it.”</p><p>“Thanks boss,” Joe murmured as the bell sounded out in the corridor. He was tempted to take her up on the offer to go home, thinking of what he could tell Booker, but decided against it. “I think I can stay; I’ve been looking forward to watching Nile teach this lesson,” he told her. Quynh took James to plant him in Booker’s class, leaving them with a wink.</p><p>Joe planned to avoid Booker until later, so he and Nicky planned to eat in the office between the two Art classrooms. He wasn’t mad at Booker exactly, just frustrated that it had been allowed to go on this long. When he returned to the classroom, bringing coffee for himself and Nile he gave her a gentle smile to let her know he was OK, set down their drinks and sat with some students, picking himself up a lump of clay to work with.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Over the next month, Booker made it abundantly clear how sorry he was to Joe and by extension Nicky, practically grovelling before them, begging for forgiveness the first night. For a little while they let him, when they were still upset but after a while they told him to quit as it got more annoying than funny.</p><p>Quynh had been right when she had told them she had something planned for Booker that he would hate. The other language teacher, whom every year would plan the school’s residential week in Paris, found she was due to have her baby that week, and so as the most qualified language teacher, Booker was required to go in her place. The only problem was, Quynh and Andy waited until the last possible moment to tell him that. Meaning the Friday afternoon as he, Joe and Nicky were leaving the school to go home. Booker hated fieldtrips, he hated having to organise even a day out of the school, let alone a whole week, in a different country!</p><p>On the Monday of mid-term break, the day they were due to leave, Joe and Nicky volunteered to drive Booker to school, they were heading that way anyway, and they would not let him refuse. They dropped him off, treating him like their child who they were dropping off, reminding him to behave and helping him get his bag to the coach to be loaded.</p><p>“Oh, damn, I forgot my passport,” Booker said, a little too happy about it, patting down his jacket pockets. “Guess they’ll have to go ahead with out me,” he sighed.</p><p>Nicky smirked; Booker had learned not to like that smirk. “Not to worry, I saw it in the kitchen and picked it up for you, wouldn’t want you to miss the trip,” Nicky said, holding it out as Joe laughed from beside Andy who was here to see off the trip and her wife for the week.</p><p>Joe, Nicky and Andy watched, waving as the coach pulled away from the school. “Worth the wait?” Andy asked as the coach turned the corner. Both Joe and Nicky had been kept in the dark about this plan, so not to spoil the surprise. The pair of them grinned and answered together:</p><p>“Totally worth it.”</p><p>“Absolutely boss.”</p>
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